How hamstring ‘pop’ led to a cancer battle
A FORMER footballer was faced with battling a rare cancer after initially thinking he had “popped” a hamstring.
Adrian Owens, who used to turn out for Newcastle Emlyn, is hoping his example will encourage other sufferers to face their fight with positivity.
The 36-year-old, from Swansea, first noticed a lump on his right hamstring in December 2020 – but put it down as a cyst.
“I do a lot of training, but I thought I’d just popped a muscle, or put it down as a cyst,” he said.
“But a month or so later it had grown bigger, and my fiancée, who is a personal trainer, said she thought it wasn’t normal and urged me to get it seen to.
“I went to the doctor and was sent for a biopsy and I then I got a call telling me to come and see him.
“I asked Shan, my fiancée, to come with me because I didn’t think it was going to be good news.
“When I was told it was sarcoma I didn’t know what to think. When we left the surgery I went to the gym on my bike, I went for a run and went for a swim in a local lake. I just didn’t know what else to do.
“When you hear the c-word you don’t want to speak about it”.
Adrian, known as Aidy, turned to a local counsellor, reiki practitioner and cancer survivor, Mike Edwards, for advice.
“He told me I was like a closed book,” said Adrian.
“He said getting information from me was like trying to extract teeth. But I slowly started opening up.
“I had played for Newcastle Emlyn when they were in the Welsh league, but as I got older and I realised I couldn’t perform like I used to, I decided to give triathlons a go.
“I had to undergo five weeks of radiotherapy, and after my third week I did a half Iron Man event in Fishguard.
“I asked a nurse for advice and whether it would be damaging for me, and she said it wouldn’t but I might struggle. But I did it and completed in five hours and 40 minutes”.
After undergoing radiotherapy, Adrian had an 11-hour operation which involved the removal of around 80% of his hamstring, and the grafting of some skin from his back. Because the graft didn’t initially take, he was rushed back for emergency surgery the following day.
But fortunately, the treatment ultimately proved successful. Adrian is now returning to endurance events, and is training for another half Iron Man in Fishguard in June, and then his biggest challenge to date, a full Iron Man in Tenby in September.
Shan, meanwhile, has taken inspiration from her husband-to-be, and in a nod to his 11-hour operation, is undertaking 11 challenges over the coming months, including triathlons to raise money for charities South Wales Sarcoma Service and Sarcoma UK.
Adrian, who is due to marry Shan next month, said: “It is not about me any more. I have come through the other end, and now I feel so comfortable talking about my experience.
“I was under the sarcoma team at Morriston Hospital and my consultant was James Warbrick-smith, who was amazing,” he said.
“People would feel a bit unsure about talking about cancer around me, but I am very positive about it now.
“I have spoken to people going through cancer, and I tell them about my experience and the importance of a positive mindset, and being fit and active.
“And that is what I want to do now – raise awareness and make people realise how important it is to remain positive.
“I was on a cancer ward in hospital and some of the people there had given up, but I was thinking, I am not going to let this beat me.
“Now, if people ask me if I would turn back the clock, I don’t think I would.
“The whole experience has made me appreciate life so much more”.